A nurse with type 2 diabetes has completely turned her health around after following a low carb lifestyle.

Gillian Crowe, from Rushden in Northamptonshire, was overweight and plagued with other health issues, such as psoriatic arthritis and osteoarthritis. Day to day, moving around had become cumbersome and she was also experiencing some of the classic symptoms of diabetes such as hot flushes, extreme thirst and frequent toilet trips.

The 62-year-old was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes six months ago and was prescribed metformin to treat her type 2 diabetes. However, her vision became blurry causing problems with driving. It was then she decided enough was enough, deciding to follow a low carb lifestyle, cutting out pasta, rice, cakes and biscuits.

She said: "I ignored the NHS instructions regarding diet and medication and instead opted to follow a low carb healthy fat diet and I started losing weight straight away.

"Not only have I lost significant amounts of weight, but my cholesterol and blood fat levels have returned to normal without statins and my HbA1c levels have come down so much that I have come off metformin completely."

Gillian is continuing to take better care of her health by walking on a daily basis, which has also improved her mobility problems. She is now always on the look-out for new ideas and health tips, choosing to use a popular online community forum for regular support.

She said: "I use the Diabetes.co.uk website for reading discussions; information and help with my way of eating. The information about low carb is very good and I have signposted friends to it."

Diabetes.co.uk launched its highly successful Low Carb Program in 2015 and since then it has gone from strength to strength with more than 270,000 people having signed up. The 10-week online digital platform offers members dietary information and lifestyle education. It has also helped people to lose weight, reduce their HbA1c and lower their dependency on medication.